Episode 1: Salmonella and Eggs - What can we eat?

Salmonella is perhaps one of the best known bacteria around. There are more than 2,500 strains of Salmonella bacteria. They live in the guts of many different animals, wild and domestic including cows, pigs, snakes and, of course, chickens. They’re also a cause of food poisoning in the UK. There were 8,451 cases of Salmonella food poisoning in 2015, but this is down from 14,465 cases in 2000. While you can catch Salmonella from a variety of sources, we were always told that eating raw and poorly cooked eggs was risky. But in October, the Food Standards Agency said that raw and lightly cooked eggs with the British Lion mark were now safe for vulnerable people ,like pregnant women and young children, to eat. This was after a consultation found that “there has been a major reduction in the risk from Salmonella in UK hens’ eggs since 2001”. But what caused this change in advice? What actually is Salmonella and what’s the relation to the British Lion mark?

We’re here today with Professor Paul Wigley, Professor of Avian Infection and Immunity at the University of Liverpool. Amongst other things, he has worked a lot with Salmonella control in chickens, so he should be able to give us some insight into why the FSA changed its advice.